Special Subjects

All single honours students take a Special Subject in their final year. These examine a historical topic in detail using primary as well as secondary sources.

They are taught in weekly 2-hour seminar classes over two terms. There may be a preliminary meeting during the summer term of the previous academic year and students are often expected to undertake some preparatory reading during the summer vacation.

Unless otherwise stated, Special Subjects are assessed by one 3-hour examination and one long essay of 10,000 words, each component has a seperate 30cr module code. Additional unassessed coursework and/or student presentations may also be required. Both modules are usually taken together (60 credits in total), however, it may be possible for students to take a free-standing dissertation in place of the dissertation attached to the Special Subject. BA Ancient History & Egyptology students may take the taught element of an ancient history Special Subject for 1 unit (examination only), with the compulsory 10,000-word dissertation. Finalists may choose their Special Subject from the menu of ‘Group 3’ modules available from other colleges.

The modules below are due to run in the 2021/22 academic year:

Please note: This module description is accurate at the time of publication. Amendments may be made prior to the start of the academic year.

• A Perfect Dictatorship? State and Society in Mexico, 1940-1982
• Abraham Lincoln and the Crisis of the Union
• Confronting the Colossus: Power, Protest and U.S. Foreign Relations, 1945-present
• Cultures of War in Ancient Greece
• Death and Dying in Ancient Mesopotamia
• Great Britain and the American Colonies 1760-1776
• Human Rights in the Americas
• Identity, Cosmology and the Supernatural in the late Middle Ages
• Ivan the Terrible and the Russian Monarchy in the Sixteenth Century
• Life Writing: Memory and Identity in Twentieth Century Europe
• Monarchs and the Enlightenment in Russia and Central Europe
• Passages to Jerusalem: The Crusades and the Medieval World, 1095-1291
• Progressivism and Progressive Thought in America c.1890-1914
• Soul and Body in Renaissance Thought
• The City of London in the Age of Global Capital 1870-1914
• Untold Stories: Constructing Lives, Narratives and Experiences in Wartime East Asia
• Urban Culture and Modernity: Vienna-Prague-Budapest, 1857-1938
• We Shall Overcome: The Civil Rights Movement in America